The ruling Georgian Dream party MP Anri Okhanashvili said on Friday that the founder of the opposition-minded Pirveli TV Vato Tsereteli seemed to be “under the influence of something when he insulted me at the US Embassy headquarters” on Thursday, contradicting the allegations of Tsereteli that Okhanashvili and three other GD MPs attacked him at the US Independence Day event. 

Okhanashvili called for the “publication of the footage,” and the “toughest punishment” for the “purposeful provocation,” adding that Tsereteli should also be tested as “he seemed to be under the influence of something.” 

He suggested that Tsereteli called him aside and told “the dirtiest things” which were “impossible to bear by anyone.” 

The MP claimed that he was aware of commitment to patience as a public servant, “but what Tsereteli did was beyond limits.” 

The US embassy said in the wake of the incident that it was looking into the reports.